Clinton Global Initiative in Rio

As part of his long-standing engagement in the region, President Bill Clinton opened the the Clinton Global Initiative Latin America meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) meetings bring together political and business leaders and this is the first time the event is being held in Latin America.

This meeting reflects the Clinton Foundation's ongoing efforts to mobilize philanthropy and corporate social responsibility in all parts of the globe.

The agenda in Latin America will emphasize efforts to carry the region’s social and economic progress into the future with sessions focusing on Developing Human Capacity, Designing for Green Growth and Harnessing Technology and Innovation. Participants will work towards developing and scaling up “Commitments to Action,” programs designed to address issues such as revitalizing Latin American cities, creating more opportunities for women entrepreneurs, and promoting early childhood education.

“I’m excited to bring the Clinton Global Initiative to Rio de Janeiro. Many countries in Latin America have been a model for addressing critical challenges with creative cooperation between the government, business, and nonprofit sectors, and doing so in ways that have universal applications,” said President Clinton. “We’ll highlight the good that has already begun to accelerate economic growth, improve education, empower women and girls, and address environmental and climate issues, and look for opportunities to build on these programs and commit to applying that experience to help throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.”

As part of the event, Chelsea Clinton, Vice Chair of the Clinton Foundation, hosted the sixth Clinton Foundation Day of Action on December 8 bringing people together for a day of volunteering giving back to the local community in Rio de Janeiro. Since she established the Day of Action program in New York City for Hurricane Sandy relief last November, Chelsea has mobilized thousands of volunteers donating more than 14,000 hours of community service across the United States. This will be the first Day of Action outside of the United States.

Since leaving office, President Clinton has made many trips to Latin America. CGI Latin America will build on President Clinton’s years of dedication to the region, from his time in government to the Clinton Foundation’s work in Latin America.

Since 2007, the Clinton Climate Initiative and C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group have been empowering cities in Latin America to invest in green technologies and fight climate change— including Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo’s deployment of low-carbon transportation, Bogotá, Colombia’s retrofitting of traffic lights, and Mexico City’s improvement of waste management systems.

Since 2007, the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership (Enterprise Partnership) empowers individuals across Latin America to work themselves out of poverty. The Enterprise Partnership creates distribution, supply chain and programs training social enterprises, including the Acceso Training Center in Colombia that will place 20,000 people in jobs and the Chakipi Distribution venture that will train 3,000 women for distribution jobs in Peru.

The Clinton Foundation, since 2010, has raised a total of $34 million for Haiti, including relief funds and also conducts projects focused on supporting Haiti’s small and medium businesses, improving livelihoods, enhancing education and exploring the nexus of agriculture, energy and environment.

Since the Clinton Global Initiative launched in 2005, CGI members have made 616 commitments around the world that directly impact the Latin American region. More than 250 of these commitments are specifically designed to improve lives throughout Latin America exclusively, and have an estimated value of $4.6 billion dollars when fully funded and implemented. These commitments include efforts to create jobs, expand early childhood education programs, help prepare for and reduce the impact of natural disasters, and increase the full and equitable participation of girls and women in all parts of society. At CGI Latin America, attendees will make new Commitments to Action to further address these and other challenges.